It Was All in His Head
by THEdragon-of-rainbows
Summary: "I ain't going near the sea as long as that flippin' whale is about!" For as long as Murdoc had known him, 2D had always been 'clueless' or 'dumb' to him, but a strange disease takes it further than Murdoc saw coming.  Phase 3, no pairings


**Okay, this is my first go at writing something sad and/or dramatic, but certainly not the first one I've thought up. However, I believe I managed to do so while still being somehat original and not too cliched or corny. Gorillaz belong to Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett.**

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><p>Living on a giant heap of washed up landfill in the middle of the ocean isn't exactly healthy. Not that 2D and Murdoc hadn't lived near lumps of landfill before, but it would eventually catch up to one of them. Plastic Beach was crawling with all kinds of diseases, viruses and parasites, some harder to catch than others, a few which had probably never even been discovered.<p>

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In his little underwater room at the bottom of Plastic Beach, 2D picked up the Sudoku puzzles that Dave had given him some time ago, gazing at all the numbers he had carelessly scribbled into random boxes. He squinted in confusion, wondering when he had even taken the time to finish the puzzles..

"That's funny, I don't remember doing these." 2D mumbled to himself, dropping the cut out pieces of newspaper onto the floor near his feet. "I don't remember filling out these at all."

Shrugging and ignoring the thought, 2D wearily stood up and walked to the bathroom to wash his face. He was feeling a bit groggy after all. He went straight to the tap and turned on the cold water, letting it run over his bony hands, before splashing it all over his face. Shaking his head and shivering a bit, 2D began to regret not letting he tap water heat up first. The feeling of the cold water now dripping onto the singer's dry clothes was soon ignored when he looked up the mirror, and his heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw the large bruise on his cheek.

_"How the hell did I get that?"_ 2D thought to himself, inspecting the bruise closely in the mirror. He didn't recall being slapped or punched in the face recently, even though it wasn't too uncommon. _"Oh no, what if I've become anemic? What if every touch is bruising me?"_

Suddenly, before 2D could worry about his state of health any longer, there was a loud creaking as the old, dirty doors of the elevator opened and Murdoc stepped out.

"Stop staring at your ugly face and get into my sub, 2D." Murdoc grumbled. "Something crashed into the ocean an hour or two ago and I think it might be the transmitter I've been looking for. I need to get broadcasting again, and I'm afraid my internet connection is dying. Let's go!"

Stepping out of the bathroom nervously, 2D shook his head at Murdoc with his eyes wide open in fear.

"I ain't going near the sea as long as that flippin' whale is about!" 2D replied in a fearful yet stubborn tone.

"Fine. You're not really worth taking anyway." Murdoc sighed. "I'll get Cyborg to make sure you don't get up to anything tricky, like trying to escape like you have before..."

Murdoc turned around sharply and was about to leave, when 2D's voice interrupted.

"Murdoc, when did I get this bruise?" 2D asked, pointing to the dark purple patch on his pale face. "I don't remember getting this at all."

"I punched you in the face less than a week ago for being an idiot!" Murdoc spat, looking at the singer as if he was insane. "How could you not remember? Is there something wrong with that damaged little brain of yours? Do I need to punch you again?"

2D shook his head rapidly, and Murdoc left the room, mumbling something to himself. Looking down at his bare feet, 2D felt a strange sense of confusion. Although he already had significant brain damage from incidents that took place many years ago, and felt confused often, this time he suddenly had no idea what he was even doing. Suddenly snapping back to reality, the singer thought it would be best to take a nap. He figured he would probably feel better when he woke up.

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Over the next few days, Murdoc had successfully managed to find someone else to drive the sub and retrieve and fix the transmitter pieces for him. Not a whole lot had really happened on Plastic Beach other than the broadcast of Pirate Radio 5 with 2D, although that did end in the island being attacked. However, they made it out alive in the end. After the release of The Fall, Murdoc didn't need to interact with 2D at all for the next few weeks. Feeling glad to be able to spend time away from the 2D, the bass player had been sending his robot bodyguard and servant, Cyborg Noodle, down to the vocalist's room to bring him food and make sure he was still alive. As Murdoc stood in the study room of Plastic Beach, dropping small meaty flakes into his tank of beloved pirrhanas, The elevator doors opened and Cyborg Noodle walked into the room.

"Oh good, you're back, I'm running out of rum." Murdoc grumbled, reaching out and gulping down the last of the alcoholic drink in his glass.. "Is the dullard still alive?"

"Yes, master." Cyborg Noodle replied, as usual. "However, behavioral changes have been detected, sir."

"What? Errr, is he angrier, happier, sadder, more or less scared, what?" Murdoc asked, slightly surprised.

"His responses have become duller and he is generally less responsive"

"Ahhh no big deal, he gets like that all the time."

Meanwhile, down in his room, 2D wandered back and forth aimlessly. It was clear now that something was wrong with him, but he just didn't seem to notice anymore. The singer stared down at his toes for a few minutes, straining in his mind to figure out why they even existed. He tried to wriggle his toes, but there was no movement.

"Useless..." 2D mumbled to himself, sitting down on his bed with his back facing his bedside shelf. He seemed to have forgotten why he was in that room, or where he was. In fact, 2D barely remembered much from before that morning. Sighing in frustration, 2D let himself fall back, forgetting about the shelf behind him. As he fell back, 2D's arm swung and hit the bong on the shelf with great force, smashing it against the wall. The vocalist flinched a bit then froze, being stunned for a moment from hitting his head against the bedroom wall. He looked at his hand, which had been cut badly by the broken bong and was bleeding. 2D knew his hand hurt, but he had no idea how to feel about the pain, or how to react, so he just held his hand, staring cluelessly at the dripping blood.

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The next day, when 2D woke up, he could not recall the previous day whatsoever. Standing up out of his bed and rubbing his eyes, 2D put one foot forward and stumbled over as he tried to get across the bedroom. The confused singer opened his mouth to say something, but founf himself speechless as he couldn't find the words to express the situation. With a groan, 2D pulled himself up onto his feet and stared around the room.

_"How do I... get around?"_ He thought to himself, his mind spinning.

Part of him knew he'd done it before, but at the same time, 2D simply could not find the function in his legs to walk properly. The following attempt to walk resulted in 2D simply stumbling over once again. Not knowing what to do with himself, 2D looked up at the open porthole window, the blue ocean water sending a shiver down his spine.

"I ain't going near the sea as long as that flippin' whale is about..." 2D whispered to himself. It was probably the best sentence he had said in the last week, as he had found that talking had become awkward. He was only ever talking to himself, but was often forgetting words and not understanding sentences he swore he had written out and understood before before. Standing himself up again, 2D sat himself on his bed again as the elevator creaked open again and Cyborg Noodle walked in. Normally, 2D would have reacted in surprise or fear whenever she was sent to check up on him, but this time 2D just sat and stared. Almost no thought rang through his head in response.

"Breakfast has been served, as a request from my master." Cyborg said, putting down a bowl of grainy cereal beside 2D on his bed before leaving the room.

2D looked at the spoon.

_"Pick... It.. up.."_ his own voice rang through his head.

Actions that would be simple and fluent for even a toddler seemed to be a mental chore for 2D, as he had to piece together how exactly he was going to lift the spoon out of the bowl. The vocalist slowly lifted his hand up and towards the spoon, before slowly placing it on the silver utensil. 2D began to blink nervously, unable to move his fingers. Moaning in frustration, 2D suddenly swung his arm and knocked the bowl off his bed in one swift, loose movement, as even blinking had become a conscious effort. After managing to lie down on his bed properly, 2D stared around at his room. Tears began to form in his eyes, which had gone dry from him forgetting to blink regularly, as he simply waited to fall asleep and not have to deal with the strain of using his weakening brain functions.

The next morning, 2D couldn't move his arms and legs. He wasn't physically weak, but his brain had simply forgotten how to control most simple

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movements all together. This didn't matter to the singer, though, as his mind was in another place, trying to salvage what was left of his conscious thoughts.

"The... The... S-s-... Uh... Has... C..." 2D muttered, trying to find the words that were once as natural to him as breathing. "I ain't going near the sea as long as that flippin' whale is about."

The vocalist then simply gave up. An strange disease he had caught over a month ago had been deteriorating his already damaged brain, slowly erasing all his memories, basic knowledge, responses, movement ability and thoughts. It was like a virus creeping through a computer, deleting off files, then getting into all the internal software and basic functioning scripts, before rendering the computer useless and only leaving one file left.

_"What's the matter with me...?"_ The line from his band's own song, Latin Simone, played through 2D's head as deep down inside he said goodbye to all the things he ever thought, the songs that ever played in his head and all the memories he ever made.

2D was now lying on his back on his bed, with his head turned slightly to face the door he once spent so long trying to unlock, and his right arm dangling off the bed.

"I ain't going near the sea as long as that flippin whale is about..."

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Only about a day or two later, Murdoc had finally managed to get his internet signal strong enough to send some brief messages out through Twitter. And just in time! Gorillaz had turned ten years old, and to celebrate, Murdoc had put together a compilation album of his favourite singles from the band, and couldn't wait to announce it. After spending hours in front of a computer screen, thinking of phrases that 'T.E.N.' could stand for, the bass player suddenly remembered that it would be best to spread the good news to 2D, who he had barely spoken to all month. However, when he entered the room, he only found the singer staring blankly at him- or more likely, into space.

"Fantastic news, little idiot!" Murdoc exclaimed, ignoring 2D's blank state. "Gorillaz are ten years old! TEN! That's a bloody long time for a band! And we're putting out a singles compilation to celebrate! ...2D?"

"I ain't going near the sea as long as that flippin' whale is about." 2D said.

"Wh-what?" Murdoc stuttered a bit, confused by the response.

"I ain't going near the sea as long as that flippin whale is about." 2D repeated, his voice slightly slurred.

Murdoc walked closer to 2D and lifted his head off the bed. 2D's dry, glassy black eyes rolled loosely in their sockets, although it was difficult to see.

"Oh no... Little bastard, what the hell is wrong with you!" Murdoc asked, slightly frantic.

2D didn't respond at all. The singer was clearly alive as he was breathing and his heart was beating, but aside from being able to say that one sentence, he was brain-dead. Murdoc stepped back, wondering for a moment or two what could have possibly gone wrong. The bassist was coming to the conclusion that 2D had either gone insane or succumb to the brain damage inflicted over the years, when suddenly he recalled 2D's strange behaviour earlier that month. Murdoc wasn't exactly sure what happened to 2D, but assumed that the fumes of Point Nemo's landfill had buried themselves within Stuart Pot's brain and lead to his mental demise. Murdoc placed his hands over his face in despair. 2D had always been a bit clueless, spacy and perhaps dumb, but apart from when he was in a coma he was never a vegetable like this. Finally accepting the truth, Murdoc let out a heavy sigh and scooped 2D up off the bed.

"I ain't going near the sea as long as that flipping whale is about." 2D muttered as his head hung limply over Murdoc's arm like a ragdoll's. He had no idea what he was saying but it was the only response his brain had left.

Murdoc made his way into the elevator, out of the building and onto the shore of Plastic Beach, holding the limp, useless vocalist.

"Well, I guess there's not much we can do with you now, little sod." Murdoc sighed as he stared out at the ocean. "I must say, as much as I hate you, it's been pretty darn exciting having you in this band. It's just a shame you went brain-dead before we could celebrate the ten-years compilation album, hehe. Oh well, I guess maybe you're happy you now get to be one of those zombies you always watched in those cheap horror movies. Anyways, is there anything you'd like to say before you go?"

"I ain't going near the sea as long as that flippin' whale is about." 2D said, completely unaware as his wide-open eyes gazed in no particular direction.

"I thought so." Murdoc said with a slightly sad chuckle at the irony in 2D's last sentence, before he tossed him into the ocean.

The singer floated face-down in the ocean for a while, before finally sinking down into the polluted blue depths. Murdoc silently watched 2D's practically lifeless body sink down into the ocean. He had worried for a while that someone would either go insane or get sick on plastic Beach, but 2D's brain disease came as a bit of a shock.

"Well what now Murdoc..." The bass player said to himself as he stared down into 2D's deep blue watery grave. "I guess this is it. I might aswell leave before I end up brain-dead too."

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><p><strong>You're wondering where that came from, right? Well the idea started when I noticed how after completing Mission 2 of the Plastic Beach game, the only thing 2D does is say "I ain't going near the sea as long as that flippin' whale is about!". He doesn't even move, blink or change facial expressions. At the end of Mission 1 however, you could have a conversation with 2D and he'd say various things, while sometimes smiling, looking shocked or moving his hand. This lead me to make a joke about 2D having a brain disease at the end of Mission 2, leaving him almost braindead and only able to speak one sentence. Messed up, I know, but one night I suddenly knew I had to make a fanfic about it! It was originally going to be a comedy like my others, but I felt like I could work deeper into it if I made it more sad and serious.<strong>


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